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No Trick: ‘Penn & Teller’ a Broadway Hit

Teller with a rabbit in "Penn & Teller on Broadway" at the Marquis Theater.Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

In one of their onstage illusions, Penn & Teller make coins appear in a fishbowl and hand them to an audience member.

Apparently, they can afford it. Their Broadway magic show is making a lot of money appear.

“Penn & Teller on Broadway” grossed $1.4 million last week, improving its financial performance in a week when most shows were down, according to figures released Monday by the Broadway League. And the show’s producers announced Friday that they had recouped their $2.85 million capitalization.

The show drew 12,145 people last week – a larger audience than for any Broadway production except the hit musicals “Aladdin,” “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “An American in Paris.”

“Penn & Teller on Broadway,” which began performances July 7 and opened July 12, is playing a limited run as a special event – not a play or a musical – at the Marquis Theater. It is scheduled to close Aug. 16, at which point the duo, who have been working together for 40 years, plan to resume performing in Las Vegas.

The wedding-themed musical comedy, “It Shoulda Been You,” closed Sunday after 31 previews and 135 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theater,. That show, with music by Barbara Anselmi and book and lyrics by Brian Hargrove, consistently struggled to draw audiences and closed at a loss to its investors. In its final week, it grossed $494,033, about half of its potential.